Cooking with Noah and Cracking Eggs

I have been teaching Noah how to cook, and he is fascinated with cracking eggs.  I made Angel Food cake the other day and I had to use 12 egg whites.  I am a pro at separating the egg whites, but I have to concentrate, and with a very helpful five year old saying I want to help and sneaking over and grabbing the eggs out of the carton it is a little nerve racking. Thankfully I only had to crack 14 eggs because I managed to lose two of them.  Noah is pretty good about listening and didn’t help me crack any eggs. I remember the first time; I had him crack an egg. I had him sit at the table and he smashed the egg and it ended up all over his face, clothes, the table and the floor. It was a mess for me to clean up after I put him in the tub and scrubbed him clean.  My mom always teases me about how when I cook something always goes wrong. It is never anything major and the food is always delicious, I guess I get distracted a lot. I too have gone to crack an egg only to not pay attention and drop the egg on the floor.  It is a complete mess.  I am then required to mop the floor, which is probably one of my most not favorite house cleaning jobs.  

I often wonder how clean my floor really is getting. I know that the dirt or substance is removed but what about all the germs? Am I getting them up too? Raw eggs contain risk of salmonella, I can be a messy cook, and sometimes I drop things like raw meat on the floor. I pick it up and mop but am I really getting all the bacteria?  I think I need to find a new steam cleaning mop just to make sure that I am not making my family at risk to get sick. I would love to get a Ladybug Steam Cleaner, for my floors so I feel better about my kitchen messes and not spending all that extra time scrubbing the floor and worrying about germs.

Mommy, My Lightbulb is Burnt Out Again

Noah and I both have ceiling fans in our bedrooms. They were purchased and later put in by my aunt and uncle who are the absolute best at these kinds of things. Well I have noticed that the light bulbs in them seem to burn out quickly, more quickly than any other light bulb in our house. It might be because they are both on all the time. I like to sleep with my light on, it makes me feel safe, and so I can see what is going on. I wouldn’t say I am afraid of the dark per say, it’s just a comfort thing.  I hate changing the ceiling fan light bulbs.   When I put my furniture in my room, my bed was placed in a spot to where I could stand on my bed to change the light bulb. The glass dome is such a pain in the butt to put back on, because you have to do it in such a way so the glass dome doesn’t fall off.  Sometimes it takes me a while to put it back on right.  It is really annoying.

Noah’s light is the one that you have to stand on a chair to change, well that means I have to carry a chair upstairs from the dining room that always makes me nervous. Then it is a series of up and down because I don’t have eight hands.  Sometimes, I wish I did, when I have to do twelve things at once.  I absolutely hate when Noah’s light bulb burns out. I have only had the light bulb get stuck and come apart once and it was mine. I was able to get it out with a pair of pliers after the power was turned off. Recently, Noah’s light bulb burned out at 8 pm.  I had ordered dinner out so I was waiting for the delivery guy to bring me my food. They had been early the last two times so the last thing I wanted to do was be standing on a chair trying to mess with changing a light bulb.  So, Noah was up in his room waiting for me.  I gobbled down my wedge fries and cheese, before changing his light bulb.  It was still light outside so it wasn’t dark in his room. He pretty much hung out in the hallway.

After I finished I was ready to tackle the job. I am sure you are all like what’s the big deal and your minds are filling up with how many so and so’s does it take to change a light bulb jokes.  I got the dome off fairly easily between telling Noah to please leave his room, in case I drop something or fall.  I changed the light bulb and I got down to test it before I put the dome on.  The light bulb worked fine. I had put the dome on it.  I told Noah, who usually remembers everything to remind me about the chain because I wrapped around the fan. Well, after getting the dome on for like 5 minutes, I turned on his fan, while out of the room to make sure the dome was securely on. I always tug on it to make sure, but it is an extra step. I didn’t remove the chain and bam the light went out. I was not happy, Noah said mommy remember the chain. I was like thanks honey, thinking why didn’t you tell me that before I turned the fan on. Of course I didn’t say that, just thought it. 

So, I bring the chair back in, get back up there and take the dome off and change the light bulb. It doesn’t work. I try another one, it doesn’t work. I am like I wonder if I blew a fuse. So, I go out to the garage, and locate the power box and none of the switches were flipped. I couldn’t read the scribbles of the person who did the electrical work in my house.  I didn’t know what to do. At this point I decided to try two more light bulbs and surprise surprise none of them worked.  I had no clue what to do. I asked Noah if he would sleep with flashlights. He was fine with it.  I was texting my friend Brandy and I was asking her what it could be. Neither of us had any idea. I started replaying it in my mind, then I was like I wonder if it pulled the chain by turning the light out.  Sure enough that is what it was.  It had to be. I was texting anyone who might have an idea, of what was going on.  Eventually after a forty five minute ordeal, the light was working and Noah was in bed. 

I do think there is something wrong with the light, because it isn’t as bright as it used to be. Maybe I broke the dimmer feature.  Not that I use it, and it is still bright enough.   It’s always something!

Why Can't Teachers Hug Their Students Anymore?

When I was growing up it was normal for teachers to hug students, to consul them if they were upset. I am not talking about what I learned as bad hugs but good hugs. I loved hugging my teachers; I have always been an affectionate person. It was something considered acceptable. I am sure that somewhere there were children being sexually abused by teachers both male and female but really now days teachers are no longer allowed to hug their students without made to look like a villain. School nurses were allowed to check children for illnesses and other things going on, but now it is considered wrong and immoral.  Parents throw fits and threaten lawsuits for ridiculous reasons

Every time I think about this I think about my study hall teacher Mr. Brown. He was awesome I loved having study hall with him because he didn’t really care what the students did as long as they weren’t causing problems. Every other day, I would go to his class, see him and we would hug. Mind you Mr. Brown at the time was in his 60’s or perhaps 70’s he was like a grandpa.  We would say “I love you” in a goofy tone. It probably looked like we were having an affair but of course we were not. That’s just something silly we used to do. It was all in good fun. That was 12 years ago. If that happened today, Mr. Brown would be an inmate in the county jail and Nancy Grace would be pounding down my door for my comment. 

Now I am not pulling the wool over my eyes, I do understand that tragedies of sexual abuse do happen. I don’t however think that if you want to hug a teacher or another adult that it is happening necessarily.  I think that it depends on the situation of course. I think that a teacher should be about to hug a student if they are having a bad day. You back when a hug could make a world of difference or make you feel much better.  I think that a nurse should be able to do their job and care for a student and protect the other students without being accused of doing something wrong. The point is yes I know there are bad people out there but not everyone is bad or have malicious intentions.

In a over sexualized society, it is important that children are educated about what kinds of touch are acceptable.  When I was in brownies, a woman came to a troop meeting and explained to us about good hugs and bad hugs. What kinds of touches were acceptable and what was not.  She had dolls and everything. It really was something that stuck with me because I can remember it 20 years later. I can even tell you where I went to dinner that night.

I remember learning about sex ed in school. I remember I was in 4^th grade and we were separated from the boys and taught about periods and age appropriate things about sex.  Nothing glamorous about it, just the logistics of how it works, I am not sure if I was a sheltered child growing up in the safe community I grew up in or what but, it wasn’t a huge thing. I know I didn’t know what the kids these days know now. I think that sex has really become an issue that is being portrayed as fun or cool or whatever people are saying through TV and music.  I am not blaming TV per say but even parents that monitor their children closely are being exposed to things they shouldn’t be. There are also parents that don’t care about what their kids do or hear and let them roam around like an adult.

   

I am not a prude by any means but I think that it should be education about it, but not to the point that they know everything before they are 13. I believe that the lines of communication should be open because everything is over sexualized now. It is sad. There are in fact pedophiles out there. Many of them unfortunately but, not everyone is one. I urge you to talk to your children about good touch and bad touch and your children can come to you about anything or if they have questions.  Don’t make them feel like it is wrong to come to you. Talk in a very calm tone and answer their questions to the best of your ability.  Love them unconditionally.